Australia Day Flight

[rosslr]

Today is Australia Day down under. Traditional activities are a local community ceremony in the park, followed by a BBQ and cricket on the beach or in the backyard. We will do all that, but because we have A Kitfox, we can start the day with an early morning flight down our beautiful valley! Lucky.

cheers
ross

[jmodguy]

Very nice!!!

[jiott]

Yes Ross, we are very lucky! I often think that if I became physically unable to fly tomorrow, I would still be very thankful to have had the unique privilege to fly such a plane as the Kitfox for 3.5 enjoyable years to many different places, and met so many new friends.

[av8rps]

Ditto that!

Oh, and Ross, that is truly some beautiful country. Especially when you have a Kitfox to fly over it...

I was impressed with your readings on your panel, 103 knot / 118 mph groundspeed with 99 knot / 114 mph indicated air speed at only 4,950 rpm while burning only 15.9 litres or 4.2 gallons of fuel per hour. That certainly is an efficient Kitfox you have!

[rosslr]

Yes Paul, the TAS is mostly 103kts. Bottom LHS of screen) I run the MAP at about 24-25"- it is a CSP that is set for 5000rpm cruise. The difference in fuel burn is only about .3lph and it gives about 1-2kts more and just sounds smoother.

And yes, lucky to have a 5min walk to the hanger and no controlled airspace!

cheers
r

[David47]

Mt Beauty and surrounds are a great part of Victoria. The town got its name for obvious reasons. Pea green with envy Ross !! Terrific photos. Thanks for the inspiration.

[rosslr]

Hi David,

good to hear from you. Any update on the where the big box is?
I used this site to see where on the ocean it was .... and boy, did it move slowly!!!

Look forward to the build David.

cheers

ross

[David47]

The box is somewhere between Seattle and Singapore right now. Left Seattle Jan 19. Not expected in Mel until March 8 or thereabouts. Frustration in the extreme !!!.

[efwd]

Man, how unfortunate. Kit completion lead time and then shipping that takes that long? March 8 won't come soon enough but I still remember that awesome morning on March 12 2016!
Welcome aboard.
Eddie

[rosslr]

I forgot to post that tracking site David.

https://www.vesselfinder.com/

In meantime, have you build a wing rotisserie yet? that is a good project to keep you busy and really useful. There are a fair few posts on this site to give you a design.

And you are welcome to come and visit up here for a look and flight if you wish. Just let me know in advance as I am a way a bit.

Hate to rub it in but I'm off for an early morning flight now!

cheers

ross

[rosslr]

This summer weather is just so consistently magnificent I cant resist an early morning flight - a great way to start the day!

Local around Mt Beauty.

cheers

ross

[David47]

Man, how unfortunate. Kit completion lead time and then shipping that takes that long? March 8 won't come soon enough but I still remember that awesome morning on March 12 2016!
Welcome aboard.
Eddie

Yep Eddie, very unfortunate. But there's more to the story. Kitfox finished the kit around the end of November which was bang on 3 months from the order. So they fulfilled their part magnificently. Then we had to wait 3 more weeks for the engine to arrive ....grrrr. Debra McBean was great, she stored the kit for 3 weeks and it finally shipped from the factory on or around Dec 20. Then Christmas happened. A further month and then finally the ship sails Jan 19. So by the time it arrives it will have been over 6 months from placement of order. I've worn a hole in the carpet from pacing .... and I've been reading your thread for some time now. Very interesting and thanks for the posts. You're well on the way and doing a great job. Keep it up.

Ross, thanks for the link. I'll get on it and see where the ship is.... feel like rowing out and dragging it into Mel myself right now ...

I've just finished the build area in my shed, painted floor and all. The build area is about 20ft x 30 ft and I'll be using a double garage as the paint shop. I've looked at building both a wing and fuselage rotisserie ..... and yep, been looking at some of the designs on the site. Wealth of info available. The guys on this site are very friendly, helpful and supportive. Very glad I chose this kit.

... oh, and I like the additional photos, particularly the cheesy grin ....Thanks for that !!!